It's been a big week for the Air Force, with crews conducting two intercontinental ballistic missile test launches from the Central Coast.
A Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:46 a.m. Thursday. It successfully carried a re-entry vehicle more than 4000 miles to a test range in the South Pacific.
It was the second ICBM test launched this week from the base. The first was early Tuesday morning.
Air Force officials say the launches are part of ongoing routine efforts to test equipment and flight crews. They say they aren't in reaction to world events. One of the tests was pushed back to this week from earlier this year due to work on the launch facility. The second was scheduled months ago for this week.
